Josh Hutcherson Once Revealed Why He Regretted Being in ‘The Hunger Games’
Actor Josh Hutcherson saw his star-power expand even more when he was cast in Jennifer Lawrence’s Hunger Games franchise. But being in such a popular and beloved series had its fair share of drawbacks.
Josh Hutcherson on what he didn’t like about being in ‘The Hunger Games’
Hutcherson felt he was perfect for The Hunger Games before he even got the role. Despite how much of a good match he thought he was for his character, the actor still had to audition. It was a process that Hutcherson wasn’t a fan of.
“It kind of drove me crazy in a way, because I felt like I was so right for it, then I had to go through this crazy audition process,” Hutcherson once told MTV News.
Fortunately, others thought he was as perfect for Hunger Games as Hutcherson did, and he ended up starring in the record-breaking franchise. Hunger Games became a phenomenon, turning the actors who were featured in the series into household names. But there was a point where the attention Hutcherson received from the films began to take its toll on him. It was so overwhelming that Hutcherson occasionally second-guessed being in the films.
“There’s definitely times when you have people outside your house waiting for you to leave and they follow you everywhere you go and then they follow you back to your house,” Hutcherson once told New York Daily News. “I wouldn’t have signed up for all this if I knew I was going to get stripped of my liberties as an American.”
Why Josh Hutcherson felt ‘The Hunger Games’ was so popular
The Hunger Games was already a well-known franchise before it hit the big screen. The movies were based on a series of best-sellers written by Suzanne Collins, but the stories’ theatrical success only added to its legacy. Hutcherson felt the themes of the books and movies resonated heavily with audiences.
“The media and reality TV is a huge part of our culture now and we’re seeing that extrapolated to the most extreme in the future [in the movie] … and the idea there are movements all over the world now,” Hutcherson once theorized to Reuters. “People are coming together and standing up for something they believe in and I think that’s what this story is all about. More than ever, people have this power and feeling they need to do right and rise up and speak out.”
But ultimately, Hutcherson believed the franchise’s success came down to making quality and engrossing films.
“I think we all kind of knew there was a pretty big fan base for the books, but I never expected people to be this crazy about it and it to be this successful. Our main goal was to make a great movie and I think that’s what we did,” he said.
Josh Hutcherson had mixed feelings towards ‘The Hunger Games’ ending
Hutcherson’s time in The Hunger Games came to an end in 2015 after the franchise reached its conclusion with Mockingjay Part 2. Although the popularity surrounding the films could be annoying to Hutcherson at times, he confided there was plenty to miss about the franchise.
“[Goodbyes are] always weird. After I finished The Hunger Games and stuff, leaving that whole world was like such mixed feelings. Missing the crew, the people, the cast and the experience. But then you finished it, so that feels good,” he once said according to Cinemablend.
In an interview with DuJour, Hutcherson added that what he’d miss the most was simply hanging out with his Hunger Games crew.
“I’m gonna miss our little summer camp adventures. Every town we went to, our little group would go out to dinner. We’d go to bars together. It was a moving unit. I’m definitely gonna miss that a lot. There was just a good vibe on set,” he said.
